Christian Høy Knudsen 'Hav' (Council of Nine COFN002CD) 'Hav', the debut ambient album from Christian Høy Knudsen, represents the next step in the evolution of Council of Nine, and continues in the pure ambient vein of 'From the Mothership'. This album is Christian's depiction of the different elements of the Ocean, from the restfulness of the shoreline to the intensity of its depths. Treated sounds, and endless synth washes, both lush and spacious, combine on this deeply pleasurable CD that is long on atmosphere and long on minutes to fall into. We all need more space. This is smooth, floating music centered around drones and pads music that have a pulsing life of their own. Never harsh or cold, even at its darkest, the music on 'Hav' is created by an artist who understands how to infuse ambient music with deep beauty and humanity. Christian grew up in a small village on the southern coast of Norway. Having been fascinated by electronic music, especially ambient, since the mid-80s, he was led in the early 90s to begin experimenting himself. Since his debut live performance at the '95 Fjellpark festival in Flekkefjord Norway, Christian has been working with both ambient and house/techno music, but his choice to work mainly with ambient has brought him to the release of Hav. Very few CDs maintain the level of quality on every cut that this one does. Christian notes: "The idea first came to me while spending the summer of '98 by the sea in Lillesand, a typical beautiful sea-resort at the southern tip of Norway. I have always been fascinated by the ocean, and I wanted to say something about it in my own language: ambient. The album tries to grasp both the very special feeling of vast open seas and the warm impression of being underwater. I worked with the idea for about two years, learning new things as I went along, and new ideas came to me about how to depict the feeling of ocean in sound. The result is Hav " Hav (the Norwegian word for Ocean or Sea), is a depiction of different moods related to the sea. The ten tracks of delicately crafted ambience combine to present a sonically diverse and emotionally introspective work. It is an emotional, moving journey all the way. This is a major release for space/electronic music fans and clearly one of the best of the year so far. Fans of flowing and dramatic space and ambient music will be deeply moved by this extraordinary album.Highly recommended for meditative listening, for trance experiences and for many movement possibilities. information: email:christian.knudsen@cofn.co.uk also: axis@cofn.co.uk website: http://www.cofn.co.uk/ Review by Ben Kettlewell

BACK TO REVIEW DIRECTORY

Main Page | Features | News | Links | Musicians | MIDI